Today the Church celebrates the very first Feast Day of Saint Pope John Paul II. The Church canonized him in 2014, and the Canadian government felt that he was such an important champion of human dignity and freedom that April 2^nd is now officially Pope John Paul II Day.

He was born in Poland in 1920, and became pope in 1978. He was our pope for over 27 years. During his lifetime he made many important contributions to the world. He spoke out for freedom and human rights everywhere, but especially for his people in Poland. He respected all other religions, and encouraged peace everywhere. In fact, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

He loved to be with young people, and started World Youth Days in 1984 so that young people from around the world could gather to celebrate their faith.

Pope John Paul II’s favourite saying was “Be not afraid”. He wanted people to trust in God and not to be afraid to stand up for their faith.

Today especially we thank you for the life of Saint Pope John Paul II, who taught us so much about love and forgiveness. May we honour his example by trusting in you and sharing your love with everyone.

Pope John Paul II encouraged everyone by saying “Be not afraid” –trust in God and don’t be afraid to stand up for your faith.

Today especially we thank you for the life of Saint Pope John Paul II, who taught us so much about tolerance, love and forgiveness. May we honour his example by trusting in you and sharing your love with everyone.

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II was born in Poland on 18^th May 1920. He was made Pope in October 1978, and held this position for 27 years, making him the second-longest serving Pope of modern times. He is the only Polish pope we have ever had, and was the first non-Italian pope in over 450 years! He died on April 2^nd 2005, when he was 84; and although everyone was sad that a person as lovely as the Pope had died, many people used his funeral as a chance to celebrate all the wonderful things he had done in his life, rather than a chance to be sad. In fact, millions of people travelled to Rome to pay their respects to him, and to celebrate all the good he had done: his funeral had over 2 million mourners, and was said to be the most largely attended of all time. Here are just some of the things that could have been celebrated at his funeral mass:

-Pope John Paul II was known by many as “the Pilgrim pope”, because he visited over 100 countries during his time as pope. He did this because he knew that there were many people all over the world who would have liked to see him, but wouldn’t get the chance to travel to the Vatican in Rome.

-He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004; and so many people have called for him to be made a saint that his successor Pope Benedict XVI, has even gotten rid of the five year waiting period that there used to have to be between the death of someone and their canonization (making them a saint).

-He had to do military service in Poland in 1938, when he was 18, but he refused to hold and fire a gun because he did not believe in war.

-He was ordained as a priest in 1946, and was made Bishop of Krakow only twelve years later, in 1958. This made him the youngest bishop in Poland!

-In May 1981, when he entered St. Peter’s Square in Rome to address a huge audience that had turned up to hear him speak, he was shot and critically wounded by a Turkish gunman. He needed five hours of surgery to save his life, and he very nearly died. The man who shot him was sentenced to life in prison. Two years after this, just after Christmas in 1983, John Paul II visited the man who had shot him in his prison cell and sat and talked to him privately for a few hours. He said that he had forgiven this man – even though he had tried to kill him – and said that he considered him his “brother”. This shows us what a forgiving man Pope John Paul II must have been.

-When the Pope was nearing death, tens of thousands of people flocked to St. Peter’s Square so they could keep a vigil for him, and pray for him. The Pope was having very bad trouble breathing at this point, and talking was very painful for him. But all the same, when he heard what all those people had done for him, he managed to bless them, and say: “I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you”.

-He was brave enough to speak out against the government of his home country of Poland in 1979. This was very brave of him, because lots of other people who were speaking out against the government at this time were being persecuted. He called for freedom and basic human rights for the Polish people.

-Pope John Paul II was very tolerant of other people’s religions. He was the first pope to ever pray in an Islamic mosque, which he did when he visited Syria. This, and the fact that he kissed a copy of the Quran (the Muslim holy book) meant that he was very popular amongst Muslims. He was also the first Pope to visit a Jewish synagogue, and did a lot to improve relations between Christians and Jews. In fact, after he died, a powerful Jewish group issued a statement saying: “More change for the better took place in his 27 year Papacy than in nearly 2,000 years before”.

-He believed that the people of many different religions should find common ground in what they believed in, so they could work together for peace. He asked Muslims and Christians to both ask for forgiveness for all the times they had offended or upset one another; and the foreign dignitary who visited him the most in the Vatican (eight times in all) was the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Buddhist religion.

-He felt that the youth were very important; and set up World Youth Day in 1984, so young Catholics from all over the world could come together to celebrate their faith.

-He was named Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ in 1994.

https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Pope-John-Paul-II-biography-6015081

Resources available at the Catholic Resource Centre:

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There are many beautiful tributes paid to Saint Pope John Paul II from the time of his death. These are fairly short, and some may be suitable to play on screens in secondary since the sound is not necessary (music).

This video is more recent, and includes narrative about his life – very well done (2014):

· Morning prayer – elementary
· Morning prayer – secondary
· Short biography – written at junior level
· List of quotes from Saint Pope John Paul II
· Resources available through Catholic Resource Centre
· List of video clip links

· Stations of the Cross – elementary
· Stations of the Cross – secondary